[Doug] Melvin said Greinke did not violate his contract by playing a game of pick-up basketball, which is how he was injured near the start of camp.

“The contract stipulates against playing ‘competitive’ basketball,” said Melvin. “They don’t want you playing in men’s leagues or things like that. If he had suffered a severe injury playing in a men’s league, there probably would be repercussions with his salary.

It’s been a while since I played basketball, but in my experience unsupervised pickup basketball was always way more physical than organized leagues. I mean, you never hear “no blood, no foul” during intermural games down at the rec center. Depending on what gym, park or playground you’re hitting for a pickup game, however, you could be taking your life in your hands.

But hey, a contract is a contract. And I bet that future baseball contracts take out or at least redefine that “competitive” language in the future.

Buchholz, 33, was acquired by the Phillies from the Red Sox in December 2016, but he made only two starts before an MRI revealed he had a partial tear of his right flexor pronator mass. He underwent surgery in April and missed the rest of the season.